Troubleshooting PSC broadband speed issues

Before you begin troubleshooting the speed of your PSC broadband connection, we recommend that you run a PSC Broadband Speedtest to measure your current connection speed.

You may also want to find out the guaranteed minimum download speed you have subscribed to from PSC.

You can find this information by checking your PSC broadband bill, your PSC contract or by contacting PSC.

Possible causes of PSC’s slow broadband speed

Is it the PSC broadband that is slow or is it your device (laptop/smartphone/PC)?

You may need to check how many apps are currently running on your device.

The speed problem could be due to the over-utilization of your system resources e.g Memory/CPU and not a problem with PSC’s internet connection.

If you are on a computer then you may use the task manager to see your Processor and RAM usage.

On any other device, you should try rebooting the device which hopefully will shutdown all apps that may have been using up your systems resources.

Re-run the PSC Speedtest on your personal computer and your mobile to see how the speed test results compare between the 2 devices.

Hopefully this should provide you with more info to help determine if the problem is with your PC/Smartphone or the PSC internet connection.

• What exactly does the PSC download and upload speed mean?
• Who’s the best Broadband Service Provider in the UK?
• 5 tips to improve your PSC Internet performance
• Simple DNS hack to improve internet browsing speed on PSC

Is your wireless the cause of the issue?

The root cause of the performance issue may be your wireless and not the PSC internet connection.

You could rule out the wireless network by connecting your PC directly into the PSC broadband router with an ethernet cable and then run the PSC Speedtest again.

If the speed checker result improves when you’re connected using a network cable, this suggests that the issue may be with your Wifi network.

A few other things to investigate:

• Are the WiFi channels that you are using for your Wifi network (SSID) overlapping with the neighbours?
• Is the Wifi network signal from the wireless router obstructed?
• Does your performance get better when you’re standing directly infront of the PSC wireless router?

Exactly who’s connected to my wireless network?

Have you checked that your wireless network password has not been shared? Do you have an open wireless network? How secure is your wireless network password? It may be time to change it.

Neighbors could be using your wireless network and using up all your PSC speed by downloading, uploading or even streaming music or videos over your PSC broadband connection! Worse than that, they could be carrying out illegal activities on your PSC broadband connection.

Here are three applications to use to analyse your Wifi network to see who’s connected:

• Windows users can use Wireless network watcher
• Apple users can use whoFi (who is on my Wifi)
• wireless network scanning application WiFi Analyzer

The above apps will scan your Wi-Fi network and show you a list of the connected devices.

• How to see who is on your PSC Wi-Fi network

Should I get a Wifi booster for my PSC broadband?

You may find that you have Wifi coverage gaps at your property, a wireless extender aka a Wifi Booster may be the best solution to boost your Wi-Fi signal to cover any coverage gaps.

• Best Wifi Signal Extenders

The wireless booster picks up your existing wireless network signal just as it is becoming weaker and re-transmits the Wifi signal to increase it’s reach.

Position the Wifi network booster/extender where your wireless network signal from your PSC broadband router is becoming weaker.

Position it near where your Wifi signal is dropping down to two bars. Walk around your house with a smartphone to find where this is.

When did you last upgrade the PSC internet router?

The PSC and broadband infrastructure, in general, are frequently updated to provide new features and improve reliability as technology evolves.  Always ensure that your PSC broadband router is running the most up-to-date software.

Most PSC internet routers will allow you to carry out the software update by simply logging on the PSC broadband router and simply clicking on a button to start the update.

If you cannot do this, contact PSC and they will be able to do this for you or talk you through performing the upgrade yourself.

In addition to updating the software, if you have had hardware for a long time, it’s probably worth talking to PSC to ask for a router upgrade.

Is the fault outside your property (at the exchange)?

This is probably the most common cause for PSC broadband performance problems in your area and it’s more common for internet broadband connections that are delivered using phone lines.

If you are unsure if this is applicable to you, you should contact PSC who should be able to carry out the appropriate connection tests to check if there is a problem on the PSC internet line.

Is it due to PSC broadband congestion?

If you are finding that the PSC broadband connection speed in your area is slow during certain periods i.e. over weekends or evenings, it may be due to congestion during peak hours.

• What’s Broadband Contention Ratio and does PSC have contention?

You should contact PSC to check your guaranteed speed.

Re-testing your PSC broadband connection

After the problem has been fixed either by yourself or PSC, retest the internet connection using  at least two separate Speedtests to ensure the issue is fixed:

• • Use the ookla internet broadband speed test to test your PSC connection
  • Test your PSC internet speed using Ookla Offical Speed Test
  • Test your PSC internet connectionspeed using fast.com speed test
  • Check My Broadband Speed Checker PSC internet speed checker
  • • 0845UK Internet Speed Checker and troubleshooting